High Point has hired Jorge Ruiz as an assistant coach after Ruiz spent the last eight-plus seasons at Weber State.

Ruiz was first hired at WSU in 2018 as a video coordinator under Randy Rahe, spent three years as director of basketball operations, and the last four as an assistant coach under Eric Duft.

“Just super grateful to the people, whether that’s the staff, administration, the players, the fanbase. There are some special places in college basketball and Ogden is one of them. It’s a community,” Ruiz said. “I came in as a young kid trying to find my way in college basketball and I had the opportunities to learn from some special people along the way.”

He also added the title of assistant general manager in January to work with Damian Lillard in that department, and worked with first-year head coach Kaleb Canales this spring to recruit and set up for next season.

“I’m grateful for his contribution to our program. A long tenure here; he’s a big part of our past, our present and our future,” Canales said. “Excited for his next step and he’ll always have a big piece in our program for all his dedication.

“It’s one of the hardest parts of the coaching profession. He was going to have a big role here and I was excited to coach with him and help him, but fully support his decision and we’ll be cheering from afar for him.”

Ruiz said the coaching change was not a factor in leaving, but rather made the timing harder to navigate.

“I started building a really good relationship with Coach Canales and having a relationship with Dame, this was a really difficult decision,” Ruiz said. “Damian’s involvement is a huge deal and working with him daily, I learned a lot.”

Ruiz joins head coach Flynn Clayman and a High Point program (in North Carolina) fresh off a 31-5 campaign that included an NCAA Tournament win over Wisconsin. Ruiz said the time was right in his career to make the leap, but he’s still a believer in what Weber State has going.

“The belief of where the program’s heading there is what made it so hard. The excitement the fanbase should have — Dame and Coach Canales are taking it where it needs to go,” Ruiz said. “I’m excited for where that is.”

Canales says he’s continuing to finalize his coaching staff ahead of the 2026-27 season. WSU has announced the hire of Dondrale Campbell, a three-year Northern Colorado assistant and former high school head coach in Portland.

Weber State currently has 13 players committed for next season and can add up to two more.

“We’re in a great spot with where we want to be,” Canales said. “If we need to take our time with the spots, we will. If we need to jump on something right away, we will. So we have the flexibility to go in a couple different directions.”